As you work through the lessons in Rachel's English Academy, you might find some terms that you're not familiar with. Read these over to familiarize yourself with some of the terms I use when talking about spoken English.

Diphthong: (note: the PH makes the F [f] sound!) This is two vowel sounds that glide together to make one sound in a single syllable. Example: the AY [eɪ] diphthong in the word SAY [seɪ] -- just 1 syllable. Vowels, Diphthongs, and Consonants are the three categories of sounds in English.

Consonant:  a basic speech sound in which the breath is at least partly obstructed and which can be combined with a vowel to form a syllable. There are various ways to obstruct the airway, making different categories of consonants. "Consonant" can also refer to a kind of letter (not just sound), like T, P, Q. 

Consonant Cluster: A group of 2 or more consonants with no vowel in between, for example, STR, BL. Also called a consonant blend.

Content Word & Function Word: English is made up of content words and function words. A content word is one that has meaning outside of the context of a sentence, a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb. A function word expresses the grammatical connection between content words in a sentence. In American English Pronunciation, content words are generally stressed, and function words unstressed. In stressed words, only the stressed syllable is stressed. Unstressed syllables are still unstressed. You will learn much more about this in Rachel's English Academy.

Dark L:  Like the different pronunciations of L, this is a habit of American speaking and not something that you'll find in dictionaries. The Dark L refers to the L sound when it comes after the vowel or diphthong in a syllable. The L is a 'Light L' in LIKE but a Dark L in FEEL. Americans make a 'dark' sound in the Dark L by pulling the back part of the tongue back. This does not happen in the Light L. You'll learn much more about this in the Consonants Course in Rachel's English Academy.

IPA:  This stands for the International Phonetic Alphabet. It is a way of writing spoken sounds. Here in Rachel's English Academy, you'll find a whole course to help you get used to the symbols used for American English. Here is a sample sentence in IPA: [aɪ hoʊp ju hæv tʌnz‿ə fʌn ˈstʌd i ɪŋ ˈɪŋ glɪʃ wɪθ mi]!

Intonation: The rise and fall of the voice when speaking, the pitch of the voice, the 'melody' of the voice.

Minimal Pair: a set of words where only one sound is different. For example, TALK and WALK, or BAD and BED.

Reduction:  A reduction is when a sound is changed or dropped in word -- almost always an unstressed word. Example: HER being pronounced with no H ("I'll give it to'er next week.") Example: TO [tu] becomes [tə], reducing to the schwa.

Schwa: The only vowel in English that has its own funny name. This vowel is very common and is in unstressed syllables only. It is represented by the symbol [ə] in the International Phonetic Alphabet. This sound can 'disappear' when the next consonant is L, R, M, N. You'll learn much more about this vowel in the Vowels + Diphthongs course.

T Pronunciations: True T, Stop T, Flap T:  In American English, there are three ways we pronounce the [t] sound. These are not the official pronunciations, and you won't see them in dictionaries. But they are strong habits in American English. A True T [t] is a fully pronounced and released T, the official pronunciation. A Stop T [t￨] is where the air is stopped, but not released as a T (may be released as the next sound in a word or phrase). This is also called a glottal stop. And a Flap T [d] is where the tongue bounces ("flaps") against the roof of the mouth once, without stopping the air. It sounds just like D between vowels in American English, so that 'matter' and 'madder' sound the same. This is the same sound as the R [ɾ] in many languages: Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, and others.

Thought Group:  a phrase that forms a unit of meaning. For example, this is a great sentence. That sentence had two thought groups: for example, and this is a great sentence. Generally, words in one thought group will be said with no pause in between. All the words and sounds in one thought group should flow and link together.

Voiced and Unvoiced: All vowels and diphthongs are voiced. Consonants can be voiced or unvoiced. Voiced sounds are sounds where the vocal cords vibrate. In unvoiced sounds, there is no vibration of the vocal cords. For unvoiced sounds, only air comes out of the mouth, but for voiced, sound comes out. Examples: M [m] is voiced. H [h] is unvoiced.

Vowel:  a speech sound that is produced by comparatively open configuration of the vocal tract (not obstructed, like consonants), with vibration of the vocal cords. "Vowel" can also refer to a kind of letter (not just sound), like I, A, O.